The two rivals in Honduras’s political crisis prepared yesterday to open talks on a solution to last month’s coup and a senior US official pledged Washington’s strong support for the dialogue.
US president Barack Obama’s administration, facing a major test of its promise to improve relations with Latin America, is counting on mediation by Costa Rican president Oscar Arias, an experienced peacemaker, to prevent bloodshed in one of the region’s poorest countries.
Ousted Honduran president Manuel Zelaya, backed by wide condemnation of the coup from foreign governments, says he is ready to hold a dialogue with those who toppled him at gunpoint on June 28th and sent him into exile in his pyjamas.
Under the mediation of Mr Arias, a Nobel Peace Prize winner, Mr Zelaya will meet the interim government of caretaker president Roberto Micheletti in Costa Rica today.
Mr Micheletti, who was installed by the Honduran congress after the coup, has agreed to start the talks, which he called a dialogue – not negotiation. – (Reuters)